NCC-1701 USS Enterprise Deck by Deck - WIP

[wetblanket]

I'm not a Star Trek fan by any means and was surprised at how familiar your rendition feels to me (I did watch it occasionally as a kid). Impressive stuff :thumbsup:

[Matth85]

It's a little too bumpy if I may be so bold. I am not sure, but that is a really messed up glass. It looks more like bendable plastic, since the waves act like that.

 

A better approach would be to have a less bumpy normal map, and keep a interesting specularity. That way it doesn't look too wavy, yet the light doesn't hit it unnatural.

Another way to get a "light" effect is to take the same image, blur it really hard, add an alpha and put it slightly in front of the original glass. That way it looks like it glows slightly.

 

I don't try to nag here, just trying to get some opinions and critisism :) In such a big project, it is easy to loo yourself blind on the model. Then everything either looks perfect, or ike crap, for you.

If you feel it doesn't help, I'll stop commenting. No worries!

 

Cheers,

Matth

[Druuler]

It is the little things that we tend not to notice that will stand out the most if not done correctly, it seems. It does look rather good and somewhat correct. I never really paid that much attention to the light fixture covers on the ship though, but it does look about right :thumbsup: Edited October 25, 2011 by Druuler

[havoc92]

Thanks, guys for the comments and input in general. Matth85, Critiques are always welcome when they're well intended. So, thank you for that.

 

The general feedback so far is positive on these panels. The originals used a type of plate glass that was formed to appear like the rippled surface

of a body of water. Over time, I'm assuming, this type of glass was not available for replacement purposes or somebody used on hand stock to

cut costs or whatever. Ultimately there ended up being a mix of this type of glass and another with a more diamond cut look. I preferred this look

as it's more organic and tends to lend more natural touch to the scene as opposed to the more machined look of the diamond cut.

 

I spent the better part of a week trying to track down either an image or a premade texture of this specific type of glass and didn't find one at all.

There were some variations on the theme with much less detail - far less pronounced ripples, etc. Ultimately, I took a sample image of a volume

of water that had been disturbed and used the surface of it as a basis for making my glass panels. As the aim of the original glassmaker was

to capture this very look - felt there was no better way to get it than to go straight to the source of the inspiration. So far it's been well recieved.

[CKYRules]

Wow... Thats all i have to say. This is absolutely impressive. I never cared for the Constitution class but this is an amazing looking model. It would be awesome to walk through the ship. And perhaps to have it as a player home. Again wow. Amazing job. Keep up the amazing work

[Druuler]

As a player home, you would have more storage space than you might know what to do with, and plenty of room for your companions. The Constitution class Heavy Cruiser carried a compliment of over 400 crew members. 413, if memory serves correctly. The transporters would come in handy to getting around the game world. Just be sure to grab a communicator to ask for a beam up.

[Matth85]

Critiques are always welcome when they're well intended/quote]

Isn't it always well intented? Some might be very harsh in how they crisism others, but the point is always the point. I remember what a industry artist once told me "If you can't take critisism, you can't improve".

 

Anyways, to some more things:

 

One thing that stands out to me, which is a very .. nitpicky thing I guess, but you seem to model it exactly as it was made. The thing is, a good model is logical. Even though some things are the for no practical reason, and it breaks every natural law, it is logical. When Star Trek was made, they never showed too much of the ship, and wasn't as advanced as we are now in terms of computer power. Taking the blueprints and ideas with a grain of salt is necessary to make it realistic.

Of course, this means you aim this to be realistic and next-gen: Something anobody would like. Not more old school, and aimed only for the nosgalgic star trek viewers.

 

The thing is, a glass formed as ripples would be very impractical. It would not be steady. If it was formed with some other material, it might be stronger, but would it look exactly as glass and would it shine as it does?

It might just be me, a non-Star Trek viewers ( I am sorry, I am of the Star Wars generation, not Star Trek :) ), that really don't like the looks of it. It looks like.. Well, an abstract photoshop image. Something I did when I was bored a school 2 years ago. I mean no offense in that! I dont mean that as in any artistic/skill way, simply in an overall way. It really does not appeal to me, here.

 

As a more modern-scfi fi things are usually very elegant and clean. I guess that is what hits me.

Perhaps this is because I look at this as a start of a new-gen model, using what power we got today, and not as an nostalgic model using nothing but required? I don't know.

 

I also think you should consider modular design, if you havn't. If you are planning to lay this beast of a model into a UVW space, it will really hurt. That'd be approximately 15 2048x2048 maps, using the same as 4. Most of the halls, walls, panels, pipes, etc can be used in a single map, whilst bigger objects like the exterior, generators and chairs get their own map.

 

I'd also say that High Poly modelling would be wise, but then you'd have to break this into a hundred smaller pieces. Because that model would crash Max non-stop.

Though that means a good usage of smoothing group ans UVs will be necessary to keep a more next-gen look! And if you are not high poly baking, I'd optimize as I go. Otherwise you will sit there for a week afterwards just optimizing it. And optiizing a big porject is really needed, as you can lose a lot of polygons!

 

Hm... I don't know what more to say. Nothing more than good luck, don't lose motivation and remember to have fun!

 

Cheers,

Matth

[havoc92]

Critiques are always welcome when they're well intended/quote]

Isn't it always well intented? Some might be very harsh in how they crisism others, but the point is always the point. I remember what a industry artist once told me "If you can't take critisism, you can't improve".

 

Anyways, to some more things:

 

One thing that stands out to me, which is a very .. nitpicky thing I guess, but you seem to model it exactly as it was made. The thing is, a good model is logical. Even though some things are the for no practical reason, and it breaks every natural law, it is logical. When Star Trek was made, they never showed too much of the ship, and wasn't as advanced as we are now in terms of computer power. Taking the blueprints and ideas with a grain of salt is necessary to make it realistic.

Of course, this means you aim this to be realistic and next-gen: Something anobody would like. Not more old school, and aimed only for the nosgalgic star trek viewers.

 

The thing is, a glass formed as ripples would be very impractical. It would not be steady. If it was formed with some other material, it might be stronger, but would it look exactly as glass and would it shine as it does?

It might just be me, a non-Star Trek viewers ( I am sorry, I am of the Star Wars generation, not Star Trek :) ), that really don't like the looks of it. It looks like.. Well, an abstract photoshop image. Something I did when I was bored a school 2 years ago. I mean no offense in that! I dont mean that as in any artistic/skill way, simply in an overall way. It really does not appeal to me, here.

 

As a more modern-scfi fi things are usually very elegant and clean. I guess that is what hits me.

Perhaps this is because I look at this as a start of a new-gen model, using what power we got today, and not as an nostalgic model using nothing but required? I don't know.

 

I also think you should consider modular design, if you havn't. If you are planning to lay this beast of a model into a UVW space, it will really hurt. That'd be approximately 15 2048x2048 maps, using the same as 4. Most of the halls, walls, panels, pipes, etc can be used in a single map, whilst bigger objects like the exterior, generators and chairs get their own map.

 

I'd also say that High Poly modelling would be wise, but then you'd have to break this into a hundred smaller pieces. Because that model would crash Max non-stop.

Though that means a good usage of smoothing group ans UVs will be necessary to keep a more next-gen look! And if you are not high poly baking, I'd optimize as I go. Otherwise you will sit there for a week afterwards just optimizing it. And optiizing a big porject is really needed, as you can lose a lot of polygons!

 

Hm... I don't know what more to say. Nothing more than good luck, don't lose motivation and remember to have fun!

 

Cheers,

Matth

 

In answer of your first point, no, it really isn't always well intended. I wish it were; but, some people are just

jerks and won't be dissuaded from being jerks. One person at NeoGaf leaps to mind; but, you'll have that.

 

On the logic and realism front, yeah, that's why I went for pushbutton consoles in engineering rather than the early ones that had brightly painted car and

plumbing parts nailed, screwed or glued to the surface.. For some reason, it just didn't seem believable. lol. Hanging that stuff around on walls as decor,

sure. I get why that might be done. But for people who aren't nostalgic about the old stuff, there are 3d engines available even free ones and there is plenty of

stuff out there to get started with. Go for it.

 

As to being elegant and clean. I think it is an elegant design for the time. One has to keep in mind that some of the silliness (plumbing and car part nobs)

arose out of a limited budget while shooting a show. As the show progressed and budgets allowed, they updated things and finished areas the way they

intended rather than just having 'something' there to imagine with. Thusly, I modelled the later engineering section consoles instead of the early ones.

And, when all is said and done, this isn't a build about "interpreting" what I'd have preferred to have seen. Certainly there is room to do that. My interest here

is in accuracy. And where information isn't available, then the aim is consistency.

 

Getting back to the glass - glass formed with ripples actually is a practicality. It adds a design element that adds a bit of life to the scene. And if you survey

glass and plastics, you'll find a lot of that for decor exists today - far more than you might be prepared to wade through. That said, it was there in the original

so it's there in my reconstruction.

 

As to modularity - I've tossed around ideas as to how some things will be handled. Can't be avoided when one considers decks the size of 6 and 7 in the saucer

section. The key, again, is whether it will allow me to stay true to the original. If it won't, then it will hurt and be done right. If it will, so much the better. For purposes of the game engines, I never intended to release the entire ship in a mod. Not certain I even could for the sheer size of it.

 

On the high poly front, yep.. I would refer you to the full thread at 3dBuzz for a rundown on how the build was staged out initially. Might give you an insight into my

thinking; but, a lot of preplanning had to be done. Many people chime in about wanting to see this or that textured up. But, it isn't practical to texture along the way in a build of this scope. There are way too many unknowns - too many places where new information pops up out of the blue to help with this piece or that. So, the build is designed structurally to allow me to make changes to the meshes in an ongoing situation. It's one thing to rebuild a mesh here and there or modify it.

It's quite another to have to do that, plus UVs and modify textures every time new info comes in. So, as a matter of practicality, texturing has been left for last.

And, of course, mass optimization of the model from top to bottom was phase II of the build; but, minor optimizations are ongoing. Whenever and wherever I find room to save polys, it happens. Tired and may have missed something; but, hope that got all of it. ;)

 

Thanks again.

 

And here is the link for the full thread at 3dBuzz. It's 82 pages now; so, it's breathy.

3dBuzz.com Full thread

[Mshai]

This is simply beyond words project! Impressive man, impressive!

Will track your work to see how this develops! Cheers! :thumbsup:

[havoc92]

Ok, here's the basic design for the overhead central lighting sconce.

 

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e66/havoc211/progress_102811_1.jpg

 

Debating as to whether to go higher poly with it. But the main idea is that the walls of the dome are 20 sided and the sconce echoes that. Just think that rather than simply looking like repeating a theme, it looks too low poly. We'll see.